Thanks guys. I'm pretty happy with how they've turned out, but Tom suggests maybe my springs are too short. No matter since I knew it would be trial and error doing something like this and the springs are so damn cheap. Doing this is a no brainer for me really. I was in the situation where I was going to have to fork out £240 for a new sets of E21 short shocks. I got the struts free (naturally!), the engineering cost £100, shocks were £30 each, coilover conversion was £30 and the springs were £40. They owe me £230 in all. So for less than the price of some E21 shocks I got some pimp ass adjustable suspension . But you'll have to factor in the cost of the struts.

'm getting a set done for tom, and I possible have one more set of 323i struts (although they will have to swapped off since they're on my field racing 315). The engineer is up for doing more of them. How soon are you wanting a set murran?

Yup I'll be sacrificing some kittens alright. My decent baur actually has an LSD but the M50 car is destined to be thrashed, which is why I'm hesitant to swap them over. I'm not or will ever be a drifter but I love going sideways and spent most of my last track day getting the arse out of my E30. It's just a cost effective compromised alternative to an LSD. I have two or three open 323i diffs and the lsd on the baur, so if I don't get on with it I'll just swap another on.

Exchange basis/send me your struts, I really don't mind! It will negate the costs of buying the struts off me and you can pre cut off the spring seats before sending to make them less awkward to post. If you sent them to me, I can get them done as soon as the engineer can do them. I'm not sure if the breakers I get the bilsteins from have an endless supply, so there maybe some sourcing on your part to get the shocks. But E30 shocks are so much more common than E21 and you can have your choice.

You will have to make sure your 320 struts run the 51mm shocks. You can tell since the shock collars have an internal thread, while the smaller struts have them external threads.

I have a few ideas, but I'll be tackling that after the new year. It will be the biggest headache of the conversion for sure, space between the manifolds and steering link is non existant. The front manifold clears very well though, just have to chop the flange off and maybe cut and twist the bottom of the manifold to join the piping. The back manifold is the problem.

I had one of the pucks lathe'd down 7mm and now both pucks are equal to the height of a standard E21 rubber mount. I bought a length of M10 thread rod and some nyloc nuts. The rod was cut in 100mm lengths, slightly longer than the M20 mounts, so I can fit standard nuts as lock nuts so I can get the nylocs into place.

Just from sitting in the bay they are noticably firmer, which should be interesting when the car's on the road. Note they are not bolted into place properly since the engine will have to be removed in the near future to redo all the hydraulic lines and fit a plate between the gearbox and engine.

Thanks, bits and pieces. The engine's back out and I'm swapping from the 323i dogleg gearbox for an M42 gearbox from a 318is. I've dropped the rear axle and found a lot more rust on the car so I'm currently sorting that out. I also got some E28 shocks to convert to coilovers.